Category Archives: cool people

After a humdrum July 4th holiday, The Huz and I made our way to the Mission to meet Roman Rimer of Mutiny Radio. Roman hosts a weekly radio show called The Weekly Review. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Shirley F. Rivera, the mastermind behind Anthrocubeology and An Improvised Life. In truth, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this radio appearance. In the end, I had a great time talking to Roman about various topics such as colorism, the beauty industry, Vincent Chin, my love for Duran Duran, and so much more. I come in after the 15-minute mark and we chat for the rest of the show. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago, the Huz and I had the honor of visiting Virgie Tovar as she did an informal run through of this TedTalk. I’m SO EXCITED to share this talk with you!

There is a lot here that resonates with me. Coming from a family that places a high value on beauty, being fat always meant that I would not fully participate in certain family celebrations (e.g. wedding parties) or that any teasing directed my way was somehow seen as okay because I deserved the scrutiny. A lifetime of paralyzing comments can often lead you to believe (as Virgie points out) that life begins later. If I could do life over again, I would wish that someone gave me the following advice a lot sooner:

You shouldn’t wait one more day, one more pound. The next time that you look in the mirror and you have the impulse to judge the body you see, or you look at another person and you have the impulse to judge their body, remember that childlike sense of wonder. After all, you have nothing to lose but your shame.

– Virgie Tovar

It wasn’t until well into adulthood that I learned that waiting for later is absolutely useless. Kudos, Virgie! Many thanks for your words.

To listen to the entire speech and read about the recovery of this speech, go here. It’s important to listen in its entirety because I don’t like the idea of fragmenting someone’s ideas for the sake of a soundbite. Frankly, I find it disrespectful to do so. Otherwise, you run into this mistake (I agree with the Michael Eric Dyson here. When we reduce Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech to a single set of lines, we lose the entire message completely.)

I have bittersweet feelings about today. Right now, I am in the state the was one of the last to recognize this holiday. 2016 barely started and I cannot help but reflect on the injustices that continue to haunt and affect people of color. I don’t have the words to express the anger, frustration, and disappointment. For now, I’m listening to this recovered speech. If MLK could remain optimistic, then I’m hoping some of that will speak to me. Today.

I’m just going to come out and say it: I have a new academic/scholar idol. His name is Jeff Chang. Should the day come that I finally grow up, I really wanna be this guy. Check out his work and you’ll see why.

Recently, I had the honor of meeting Jeff when he did a few events at ASU. For the record, he’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet. That, plus he’s a writing genius makes him my new idol. Sorry Jeff, it’s all your fault!